Sultana’s Dream
Rokheya Shekhawat Hossein
O ne evening I was lounging in an easy chair in my
bedroom and thinking lazily of the condition of In-
dian womanhood. I am not sure whether I dozed off or
not. But, as far as I remember, I was wide awake. I saw
the moonlit sky sparkling with thousands of dia-
mond-like stars, very distinctly.
All on a sudden a lady stood before me; how she
came in, I do not know. I took her for my friend, Sister
Sara.
‘Good morning,’ said Sister Sara. I smiled inwardly
as I knew it was not morning, but starry night. However,
I replied to her, saying, ‘How do you do?’
‘I am all right, thank you. Will you please come out
and have a look at our garden?’
I looked again at the moon through the open win-
dow, and thought there was no harm in going out at
that time. The men-servants outside were fast asleep
just then, and I could have a pleasant walk with Sister
Sara.
I used to have my walks with Sister Sara, when we
were at Darjeeling. Many a time did we walk hand in
hand and talk light-heartedly in the botanical gardens
there. I fancied, Sister Sara had probably come to take
me to some such garden and I readily accepted her offer
and went out with her.
When walking I found to my surprise that it was a
fine morning. The town was fully awake and the streets
alive with bustling crowds. I was feeling very shy, think-
ing I was walking in the street in broad daylight, but
there was not a single man visible.
Some of the passers-by made jokes at me. Though I
could not understand their language, yet I felt sure they
were joking. I asked my friend, ‘What do they say?’
‘The women say that you look very mannish.’
‘Mannish?’ said I, ‘What do they mean by that?’
‘They mean that you are shy and timid like men.’
‘Shy and timid like men?’ It was really a joke. I be-
came very nervous, when I found that my companion
was not Sister Sara, but a stranger. Oh, what a fool had I
been to mistake this lady for my dear old friend, Sister
Sara.
She felt my fingers tremble in her hand, as we were
1905
walking hand in hand.
‘What is the matter, dear?’ she said affectionately. ‘I
feel somewhat awkward,’ I said in a rather apologizing 45
tone, ‘as being a purdahnishin woman I am not accus-
5 tomed to walking about unveiled.’
‘You need not be afraid of coming across a man here.
This is Ladyland, free from sin and harm. Virtue herself
reigns here.’ 50
By and by I was enjoying the scenery. Really it was
10 very grand. I mistook a patch of green grass for a velvet
cushion. Feeling as if I were walking on a soft carpet, I
looked down and found the path covered with moss and
flowers. 55
‘How nice it is,’ said I.
15 ‘Do you like it?’ asked Sister Sara. (I continued call-
ing her ‘Sister Sara,’ and she kept calling me by my
name).
‘Yes, very much; but I do not like to tread on the 60
tender and sweet flowers.’
20 ‘Never mind, dear Sultana; your treading will not
harm them; they are street flowers.’
‘The whole place looks like a garden,’ said I admir-
ingly. ‘You have arranged every plant so skillfully.’ 65
‘Your Calcutta could become a nicer garden than
25 this if only your countrymen wanted to make it so.’
‘They would think it useless to give so much atten-
tion to horticulture, while they have so many other
things to do.’ 70
‘They could not find a better excuse,’ said she with
30 smile.
I became very curious to know where the men were.
I met more than a hundred women while walking there,
but not a single man. 75
‘Where are the men?’ I asked her.
35 ‘In their proper places, where they ought to be.’
‘Pray let me know what you mean by “their proper
places”.’
‘O, I see my mistake, you cannot know our customs, 80
as you were never here before. We shut our men in-
40 doors.’
‘Just as we are kept in the zenana?’
‘Exactly so.’
 ‘How funny,’ I burst into a laugh. Sister Sara laughed
too.
‘But dear Sultana, how unfair it is to shut in the
harmless women and let loose the men.’
‘Why? It is not safe for us to come out of the zenana,
as we are naturally weak.’
‘Yes, it is not safe so long as there are men about the
streets, nor is it so when a wild animal enters a market-
place.’
‘Of course not.’
‘Suppose, some lunatics escape from the asylum and
begin to do all sorts of mischief to men, horses and oth-
er creatures; in that case what will your countrymen
do?’
‘They will try to capture them and put them back in-
to their asylum.’
‘Thank you! And you do not think it wise to keep
sane people inside an asylum and let loose the insane?’
‘Of course not!’ said I laughing lightly.
‘As a matter of fact, in your country this very thing
is done! Men, who do or at least are capable of doing no
end of mischief, are let loose and the innocent women,
shut up in the zenana! How can you trust those un-
trained men out of doors?’
‘We have no hand or voice in the management of our
social affairs. In India man is lord and master, he has
taken to himself all powers and privileges and shut up
the women in the zenana.’
‘Why do you allow yourselves to be shut up?’
‘Because it cannot be helped as they are stronger
than women.’
‘A lion is stronger than a man, but it does not enable
him to dominate the human race. You have neglected
the duty you owe to yourselves and you have lost your
natural rights by shutting your eyes to your own inter-
ests.’
‘But my dear Sister Sara, if we do everything by our-
selves, what will the men do then?’
‘They should not do anything, excuse me; they are
fit for nothing. Only catch them and put them into the
zenana.’
‘But would it be very easy to catch and put them in-
side the four walls?’ said I. ‘And even if this were done,
would all their business – political and commercial – al-
so go with them into the zenana?’
Sister Sara made no reply. She only smiled sweetly.
Perhaps she thought it useless to argue with one who
was no better than a frog in a well.
By this time we reached Sister Sara’s house. It was
situated in a beautiful heart-shaped garden. It was a
bungalow with a corrugated iron roof. It was cooler and
nicer than any of our rich buildings. I cannot describe
how neat and how nicely furnished and how tastefully
decorated it was.
2 www.kjodle.net/lit/
85 We sat side by side. She brought out of the parlour a
piece of embroidery work and began putting on a fresh 140
design.
‘Do you know knitting and needle work?’
‘Yes; we have nothing else to do in our zenana.’
90 ‘But we do not trust our zenana members with em-
broidery!’ she said laughing, ‘as a man has not patience 145
enough to pass thread through a needlehole even!’
‘Have you done all this work yourself?’ I asked her
pointing to the various pieces of embroidered
95 teapoy cloths.
‘Yes.’ 150
‘How can you find time to do all these? You have to
do the office work as well? Have you not?’
‘Yes. I do not stick to the laboratory all day long. I
100 finish my work in two hours.’
‘In two hours! How do you manage? In our land the 155
officers, – magistrates, for instance – work seven hours
daily.’
‘I have seen some of them doing their work. Do you
105 think they work all the seven hours?’
‘Certainly they do!’ 160
‘ No, dear Sultana, they do not. They dawdle away
their time in smoking. Some smoke two or three cho-
roots during the office time. They talk much about their
110 work, but do little. Suppose one choroot takes half an
hour to burn off, and a man smokes twelve choroots 165
daily; then you see, he wastes six hours every day in
sheer smoking.’
We talked on various subjects, and I learned that
115 they were not subject to any kind of epidemic disease,
nor did they suffer from mosquito bites as we do. I was 170
very much astonished to hear that in Ladyland no one
died in youth except by rare accident.
‘Will you care to see our kitchen?’ she asked me.
120 ‘With pleasure,’ said I, and we went to see it. Of
course the men had been asked to clear off when I was 175
going there. The kitchen was situated in a beautiful veg-
etable garden. Every creeper, every tomato plant was it-
self an ornament. I found no smoke, nor any chimney
125 either in the kitchen – it was clean and bright; the win-
dows were decorated with flower gardens. There was no 180
sign of coal or fire.
‘How do you cook?’ I asked.
‘With solar heat,’ she said, at the same time showing
130 me the pipe, through which passed the concentrated
sunlight and heat. And she cooked something then and 185
there to show me the process.
‘How did you manage to gather and store up the
sun-heat?’ I asked her in amazement.
135 ‘Let me tell you a little of our past history then. Thir-
ty years ago, when our present Queen was thirteen 190
years old, she inherited the throne. She was Queen in
name only, the Prime Minister really ruling the country.
Rokheya Shekhawat Hossein
 ‘Our good Queen liked science very much. She circu-
lated an order that all the women in her country should
be educated. Accordingly a number of girls’ schools
were founded and supported by the government. Educa-
tion was spread far and wide among women. And early
marriage also was stopped. No woman was to be allowed
to marry before she was twenty-one. I must tell you
that, before this change we had been kept in strict pur-
dah.’
‘How the tables are turned,’ I interposed with a
laugh.
‘But the seclusion is the same,’ she said. ‘In a few
years we had separate universities, where no men were
admitted.’
‘In the capital, where our Queen lives, there are two
universities. One of these invented a wonderful balloon,
to which they attached a number of pipes. By means of
this captive balloon which they managed to keep afloat
above the cloud-land, they could draw as much water
from the atmosphere as they pleased. As the water was
incessantly being drawn by the university people no
cloud gathered and the ingenious Lady Principal
stopped rain and storms thereby.’
‘Really! Now I understand why there is no mud
here!’ said I. But I could not understand how it was pos-
sible to accumulate water in the pipes. She explained to
me how it was done, but I was unable to understand her,
as my scientific knowledge was very limited. However,
she went on, ‘When the other university came to know
of this, they became exceedingly jealous and tried to do
something more extraordinary still. They invented an
instrument by which they could collect as much sun-
heat as they wanted. And they kept the heat stored up
to be distributed among others as required.
‘While the women were engaged in scientific re-
search, the men of this country were busy increasing
their military power. When they came to know that the
female universities were able to draw water from the at-
mosphere and collect heat from the sun, they only
laughed at the members of the universities and called
the whole thing “a sentimental nightmare”!’
‘Your achievements are very wonderful indeed! But
tell me, how you managed to put the men of your coun-
try into the zenana. Did you entrap them first?’
‘No.’
‘It is not likely that they would surrender their free
and open air life of their own accord and confine them-
selves within the four walls of the zenana! They must
have been overpowered.’
‘Yes, they have been!’
‘By whom? By some lady-warriors, I suppose?’
‘No, not by arms.’
‘Yes, it cannot be so. Men’s arms are stronger than
women’s. Then?’
Sultana’s Dream www.kjodle.net/lit/
‘By brain.’
‘Even their brains are bigger and heavier than
195 women’s. Are they not?’
‘Yes, but what of that? An elephant also has got a 250
bigger and heavier brain than a man has. Yet man can
enchain elephants and employ them, according to their
own wishes.’
200 ‘Well said, but tell me please, how it all actually hap-
pened. I am dying to know it!’ 255
‘Women’s brains are somewhat quicker than men’s.
Ten years ago, when the military officers called our sci-
entific discoveries “a sentimental nightmare,” some of
205 the young ladies wanted to say something in reply to
those remarks. But both the Lady Principals restrained 260
them and said, they should reply not by word, but by
deed, if ever they got the opportunity. And they had not
long to wait for that opportunity.’
210 ‘How marvelous!’ I heartily clapped my hands. ‘And
now the proud gentlemen are dreaming sentimental 265
dreams themselves.’
‘Soon afterwards certain persons came from a neigh-
bouring country and took shelter in ours. They were in
215 trouble having committed some political offense. The
king who cared more for power than for good govern- 270
ment asked our kind-hearted Queen to hand them over
to his officers. She refused, as it was against her princi-
ple to turn out refugees. For this refusal the king de-
220 clared war against our country.
‘Our military officers sprang to their feet at once 275
and marched out to meet the enemy. The enemy howev-
er, was too strong for them. Our soldiers fought bravely,
no doubt. But in spite of all their bravery the foreign
225 army advanced step by step to invade our country.
‘Nearly all the men had gone out to fight; even a boy 280
of sixteen was not left home. Most of our warriors were
killed, the rest driven back and the enemy came within
twenty-five miles of the capital.
230 ‘A meeting of a number of wise ladies was held at the
Queen’s palace to advise as to what should be done to 285
save the land. Some proposed to fight like soldiers; oth-
ers objected and said that women were not trained to
fight with swords and guns, nor were they accustomed
235 to fighting with any weapons. A third party regretfully
remarked that they were hopelessly weak of body. 290
‘”If you cannot save your country for lack of physi-
cal strength,” said the Queen, “try to do so by brain
power.”
240 ‘There was a dead silence for a few minutes. Her
Royal Highness said again, “I must commit suicide if the 295
land and my honour are lost.”
‘Then the Lady Principal of the second university
(who had collected sun-heat), who had been silently
245 thinking during the consultation, remarked that they
were all but lost, and there was little hope left for them. 300
3
There was, however, one plan which she would like to
try, and this would be her first and last efforts; if she
failed in this, there would be nothing left but to commit
suicide. All present solemnly vowed that they would
never allow themselves to be enslaved, no matter what
happened.
‘The Queen thanked them heartily, and asked the La-
dy Principal to try her plan. The Lady Principal rose
again and said, “before we go out the men must enter
the zenanas. I make this prayer for the sake of purdah.”
“Yes, of course,” replied Her Royal Highness.
‘On the following day the Queen called upon all men
to retire into zenanas for the sake of honour and liberty.
Wounded and tired as they were, they took that order
rather for a boon! They bowed low and entered the
zenanas without uttering a single word of protest. They
were sure that there was no hope for this country at all.
‘Then the Lady Principal with her two thousand stu-
dents marched to the battle field, and arriving there di-
rected all the rays of the concentrated sunlight and heat
towards the enemy.
‘The heat and light were too much for them to bear.
They all ran away panic-stricken, not knowing in their
bewilderment how to counteract that scorching heat.
When they fled away leaving their guns and other am-
munitions of war, they were burnt down by means of
the same sun-heat. Since then no one has tried to in-
vade our country any more.’
‘And since then your countrymen never tried to
come out of the zenana?’
‘Yes, they wanted to be free. Some of the police com-
missioners and district magistrates sent word to the
Queen to the effect that the military officers certainly
deserved to be imprisoned for their failure; but they
never neglected their duty and therefore they should
not be punished and they prayed to be restored to their
respective offices.
‘Her Royal Highness sent them a circular letter inti-
mating to them that if their services should ever be
needed they would be sent for, and that in the mean-
while they should remain where they were. Now that
they are accustomed to the purdah system and have
ceased to grumble at their seclusion, we call the system
“Mardana” instead of “zenana”.’
‘But how do you manage,’ I asked Sister Sara, ‘to do
without the police or magistrates in case of theft or
murder?’
‘Since the “Mardana” system has been established,
there has been no more crime or sin; therefore we do
not require a policeman to find out a culprit, nor do we
want a magistrate to try a criminal case.’
‘That is very good, indeed. I suppose if there was any
dishonest person, you could very easily chastise her. As
you gained a decisive victory without shedding a single
4 www.kjodle.net/lit/
drop of blood, you could drive off crime and criminals 355
too without much difficulty!’
‘Now, dear Sultana, will you sit here or come to my
parlour?’ she asked me.
305 ‘Your kitchen is not inferior to a queen’s boudoir!’ I
replied with a pleasant smile, ‘but we must leave it now; 360
for the gentlemen may be cursing me for keeping them
away from their duties in the kitchen so long.’ We both
laughed heartily.
310 ‘How my friends at home will be amused and
amazed, when I go back and tell them that in the far-off 365
Ladyland, ladies rule over the country and control all
social matters, while gentlemen are kept in the Mar-
danas to mind babies, to cook and to do all sorts of do-
315 mestic work; and that cooking is so easy a thing that it
is simply a pleasure to cook!’ 370
‘Yes, tell them about all that you see here.’
‘Please let me know, how you carry on land cultiva-
tion and how you plough the land and do other hard
320 manual work.’
‘Our fields are tilled by means of electricity, which 375
supplies motive power for other hard work as well, and
we employ it for our aerial conveyances too. We have no
rail road nor any paved streets here.’
325 ‘Therefore neither street nor railway accidents oc-
cur here,’ said I. ‘Do not you ever suffer from want of 380
rainwater?’ I asked.
‘Never since the “water balloon” has been set up.
You see the big balloon and pipes attached thereto. By
330 their aid we can draw as much rainwater as we require.
Nor do we ever suffer from flood or thunderstorms. We 385
are all very busy making nature yield as much as she
can. We do not find time to quarrel with one another as
we never sit idle. Our noble Queen is exceedingly fond
335 of botany; it is her ambition to convert the whole coun-
try into one grand garden.’ 390
‘The idea is excellent. What is your chief food?’
‘Fruits.’
‘How do you keep your country cool in hot weather?
340 We regard the rainfall in summer as a blessing from
heaven.’ 395
‘When the heat becomes unbearable, we sprinkle the
ground with plentiful showers drawn from the artificial
fountains. And in cold weather we keep our room warm
345 with sun-heat.’
She showed me her bathroom, the roof of which was 400
removable. She could enjoy a shower bath whenever she
liked, by simply removing the roof (which was like the
lid of a box) and turning on the tap of the shower pipe.
350 ‘You are a lucky people!’ ejaculated I. ‘You know no
want. What is your religion, may I ask?’ 405
‘Our religion is based on Love and Truth. It is our re-
ligious duty to love one another and to be absolutely
truthful. If any person lies, she or he is....’
Rokheya Shekhawat Hossein
 ‘Punished with death?’
‘No, not with death. We do not take pleasure in
killing a creature of God, especially a human being. The
liar is asked to leave this land for good and never to
come to it again.’
‘Is an offender never forgiven?’
‘Yes, if that person repents sincerely.’
‘Are you not allowed to see any man, except your
own relations?’
‘No one except sacred relations.’
‘Our circle of sacred relations is very limited; even
first cousins are not sacred.’
‘But ours is very large; a distant cousin is as sacred
as a brother.’
‘That is very good. I see purity itself reigns over your
land. I should like to see the good Queen, who is so saga-
cious and far-sighted and who has made all these rules.’
‘All right,’ said Sister Sara.
Then she screwed a couple of seats onto a square
piece of plank. To this plank she attached two smooth
and well-polished balls. When I asked her what the balls
were for, she said they were hydrogen balls and they
were used to overcome the force of gravity. The balls
were of different capacities to be used according to the
different weights desired to be overcome. She then fas-
tened to the air-car two wing-like blades, which, she
said, were worked by electricity. After we were comfort-
ably seated she touched a knob and the blades began to
whirl, moving faster and faster every moment. At first
we were raised to the height of about six or seven feet
and then off we flew. And before I could realize that we
had commenced moving, we reached the garden of the
Queen.
Sultana’s Dream www.kjodle.net/lit/
My friend lowered the air-car by reversing the ac-
410 tion of the machine, and when the car touched the
ground the machine was stopped and we got out.
I had seen from the air-car the Queen walking on a 445
garden path with her little daughter (who was four
years old) and her maids of honour.
415 ‘Halloo! You here!’ cried the Queen addressing Sister
Sara. I was introduced to Her Royal Highness and was
received by her cordially without any ceremony. 450
I was very much delighted to make her acquain-
tance. In the course of the conversation I had with her,
420 the Queen told me that she had no objection to permit-
ting her subjects to trade with other countries. ‘But,’
she continued, ‘no trade was possible with countries 455
where the women were kept in the zenanas and so un-
able to come and trade with us. Men, we find, are rather
425 of lower morals and so we do not like dealing with
them. We do not covet other people’s land, we do not
fight for a piece of diamond though it may be a thou- 460
sand-fold brighter than the Koh-I-Noor, nor do we
grudge a ruler his Peacock Throne. We dive deep into
430 the ocean of knowledge and try to find out the precious
gems, which nature has kept in store for us. We enjoy
nature’s gifts as much as we can.’ 465
After taking leave of the Queen, I visited the famous
universities, and was shown some of their manufacto-
435 ries, laboratories and observatories.
After visiting the above places of interest we got
again into the air-car, but as soon as it began moving, I 470
somehow slipped down and the fall startled me out of
my dream. And on opening my eyes, I found myself in
440 my own bedroom still lounging in the easy-chair!
5